Ukraine eyes MH17 recovery operation's resumption

Kiev: A ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and independence-seeking insurgents would allow resuming an international recovery operation on the crash site of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH1, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said on Tuesday.

The Boeing 777 jetliner, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17, killing all the 298 passengers and crew aboard, among whom 44 were Malaysian citizens.

"We are ready to provide all-round support so that the investigation team started its work on the scene as soon as possible," Groysman was quoted as saying in a meeting with Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.Groysman said Dutch experts, who lead the investigation, are to decide when the recovery operation will start.

According to the Malaysian minister, Malaysia has sent a 20-men investigation team to Ukraine to provide assistance in the international recovery efforts. "We have no intentions to go to the crash scene separately. We will go there together with Dutch and Australian experts, under the coordination of the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co- operation in Europe) and Ukraine," Hussein said.

In July and early August, Dutch and Australian experts worked at the crash site to examine the area and recover the bodies of the victims. But the recovery mission was stopped in mid-August until further notice due to the deteriorating security conditions in the area, triggered by fierce fighting between Ukrainian forces and insurgents not far from the site.